Wheetsin

The problem here is that we aren't dealing with real medical terms that have any kind of actual definition. We're dealing with terms that someone somehwere (probably someone online) made up, and to different people it means different things. There is no "right". To me a PB is when something is forcibly ejected from the esophagus... or perhaps not so forcibly, but still ejected. It doesn't matter if it's food matter or just slime, or foam, or whatever else gets brewed up down there... if I have to yak it up, it's a PB. Sometimes I PB food pieces, sometimes I PB saliva, sometimes I PB foam. And sliming to me is when I am heavily salivating, even if it doesn't come back up. If it's producing at thicker/more than normal, I'm sliming. If I have to keep swallowing or spitting, I'm sliming.

I like stiff ones in me. Oh, are you talking about drinks?

Any chance your questions are of a nature that someone aside from a black man could answer? Plenty of people here willing to help...

I wonder how the bartender/drunk driving issue would play out in court. E.g. if I'm walking down a sidwalk and a car hops the curb and disables me, I could sue the person whose property the sidewalk was on, I could sue the driver of the car, I could sue the manufacturer of the car, I could sue the city that failed to put up a cautionary sign or the DOT that contracted the designer who made the turn so sharp that cars are likely to hop the curb... *sigh* I use myself as an example, but actually I'm disgusted by our sue happy society. But I wonder where liability WOULD end. Could end. If we're going to hold the bartender partially responsible, then we have to hold the bar establishment responsible too. Do we hold the liquor companies responsible? How about the friends who didn't take the person's keys away? Are they less at-fault than the bartender? And on... Hmm.

Then I would think that ultimately your belief is that people should be able to choose on the matter of abortion for themselves, and that you would be voting based on your beliefs.

My cup size has gone up one full size and I've been told by several people that my boobs look bigger. My theory is that - as of yet - my boob fat has not been part of the fat I've lost (neither has my thigh or hip fat :mad: ), but abdominal fat and side/back fat definitely has been. So my boobs are actually the same size, they're just more visible because the area around them has receeded.

I think you're seeing the difference between a medically necessary surgery that some might consider a cosmetic surgery, and a true cosmetic surgery. A TT (tummy tuck) will be covered by some providers if a surgeon or doctor deems it medically necessary. This usually occurs when the person is having secondary problems (infections, continuous chafing, etc.) as a result of the rubbing skin. If someone has a baby, and their abdomen gets a little poochy, an insurance company will not cover that. Mastectomies are another example. A woman who has a mastectomy and then has reconstructive surgery (including breat implants) to return to a normal physical state can normally get coverage through her insurance company, while a woman who just wants a D cup because she doesn't like her B cup cannot. I've been in the insurance field indirectly and I cannot think of a single provider that covers elective cosmetic surgeries.

I've missed yogurt. Too many carbs and the low carb ones have funky texture. I'm a texture person. Blue Bunny "Sweet Freedom" smoothie. strawberry Creme. 1.5g fat 5g carbohydrates 8g Protein 70 calories ...per 7 ounce bottle. Tastes just like strawberry yogurt, only with much better texture than the usual low carb products.

Oh, I should mention that I'm GREEK. Half, anyway. And a small part Cherokee, and Welsh. And probably specks of other things. When we go to a family event, there's a distinct "one of these things is not like the others" aura about me. Because the people in my family who aren't Greek are Mexican. Lots of olive skin, deep brown eyes and hair, tanning at the flip of a lightswitch... I bet all these recessive Greek traits come out when I have a kid, and people will ask me things like, "Oh, are you babysitting?"

Are you kidding me? Me: really thick (before it started falling out 4 months post-op) curly red hair (a funky kind of goldish red that looks brown indoors and leprechaun's nightmare in the sun). Big buggy hazel eyes that tend toward the green side (I don't really know what people mean when they tell me I have "dough eyes". Or is it doe eyes?! But I'm a cliche internet redhead/green eyes, RSVP for my picture & profile hottie) While I could maintain a very nice tan when I was a CA native, I am now so white that I'm clear. Oh, and I'm between 5'10 and 5'11 with a large frame (are you kidding me? You can see my ribs when I stand and I've still got an extra 80ish lbs on me.) DH: somewhere between 6'3 and 6'5. Very light blond hair - light to the point that if he cuts it short, he just looks bald. Wavy when it's too long, straight when it's not. Thin, but lots of it. Which he's well on his way to anyhoo. Strawberry blond facial hair. Small (they're set deeply) steel blue eyes. And a forehead that doubles the overall size of his head. A perfect smile, and BIG lips. Tell me again why we think it would be anything but cruel to have a child...

I frequently eat Mexican food. There's no reason we can't have it. :welldoneclap: Unless you personally don't tolerate something... in which case, order it sans. :Banane20:

By virtue of how our banking is set up, that would be pretty much impossible in my situation. DH told me early on that he wanted me to handle all financial aspects. He doesn't care what I spend on on what I spend it, as long as bills are paid and he has his toys. Of course, we consult on large purchases. Our checks are deposited into a joint acccount and it's pretty much mine from there. DH has a rough ballpark of what his annual salary is, but he couldn't tell you what he nets each month. He's never bothered to memorize the password for our online banking, and the only time he's accessed it in the last year was when I've called him to go look at something and had to tell him the password on the phone. If he were lying about how much he made, honestly, I'd assume it was for a good reason. E.g. not wanting me to think he made more than me - maybe an ego issue or something (not that I would care, because he does make more than me). Or because he wanted to buy something that I wouldn't know about (in which case I'd assume it was a surprise for me, not assume it was anything bad). Maybe your husband had good intentions, but then felt attacked when you questioned him so he became defensive. Not that guys ever do that, or that we ever make them feel that way. :paranoid

I've been through the individual and compilation posts here and on other sites... but if you found anything helpful that I don't have listed, please let me know. My surgery is in about a week. SF Clear liquids, for pre-op (2 days) and post-op: Crystal light, SF popsicles, SF Jello, Fruit2O, broth. And for a few days later - Protein drinks, multi Vitamin + Calcium. For comfort: Borrowing a huge overstuffed upholstered heated/massager recliner from my parents - our recliners are leather - cold, not broken in, and not comfy for sleeping. Lounge clothes (house dresses, loose non-elastic waist pants, sports bras, etc.) laundered & ready to go. liquid Tylenol, gas-x, and a heat/cold pad, pill crusher. For care: Rx meds (while DH takes me home, my parents will get the rx filled so that there's no delay or wait before I can get home), gauze/ointments as needed. My surgery is on a Wed. My husband is working half days Thu & Fri, and my mother is staying with us Wed - Sat to help out as needed... and also as a walking partner. I plan on returning to work Mon, but have told my boss maybe - maybe not, it will depend on how I feel. Worst case scenario - I work from home for a few add'l days. Have I forgotten anything obvious?

All the weights I had to wear really made it a serious workout to get to the dive site, and back out of the water. Especially ocean dives (ocean water = higher salinity = more bouyancy -- not what fat divers need). I did a cave dive once that I wasn't really supposed to do (:paranoid). I'm not claustrophobic, but I do like knowing I can go up if I have a problem. I've assisted on a few salvage dives, and accompanied more than assistted on one (body) recovery dive. :speechles I don't think I'll do that again. I thought about pursuing my instructor cert, but I just have no time.

I barely eat now, I can't imagine what it would be like if I took supressants on top. I've not seen the posts you're referring to, but I would guess that it's people trying to manage the time between their banding and first fill. You were banded 4 months ago, so I assume you've had a fill. Is your hunger still such that you feel you would need appetite suppressants to manage it without overeating? Cod liver oil pills vary in size. BTW, the fingernail analogy doesn't work for me. I can manage something the size of a BCP, or maybe 1/3 of a tic-tac, but I've had something the size of an aspirin (much smaller than my fingernail) get stuck. Good rule of thumb - just because others talk about it or take it, doesn't mean you need it or need to be concerned that you aren't taking it. If you have specific questions, talk to your surgeon about his/her recommendations. In general bandsters should take supplemental Protein (until count is high enough through food), a daily multi, and Calcium. Those are pretty much the staples, and anything else is a matter of personal preference.

Don't worry about "I know it's protien, greens,fruit,carbs,". As time goes on that will become more and more of a general guideline. (BTW, fruit - carbs). There's really no reason greens have to come before anything else, but Protein should come first because if you're going to get full, you want it to be full on something you really need anyway (Vitamins aren't going to replace your protein, but they'll take care of most others). As for why you aren't losing weight, who knows? That's between you and your body - no one else can answer that for you. I can tell you that your bosy can only maintain significant loss for so long. On most weightloss programs, including WLS, most people will see a stall after week 1 and somewhere around weeks 4 - 8. Sometimes your body just needs to catch up with everything that's going on, and to you this looks like no change on the scale. Also keep in mind that weight is not the same thing as fat. Very lean people can weigh a whole lot (look at bodybuilders). Don't focus on the scale because it's downright inaccurate. Look at your percentages, or changes in your clothing, FFM, etc. My weight can fluctuate about 15lb in a day. Do you see why I would be setting myself up for failure if that's what all I went by? BTW, this is why most people quit after just a few weeks on a diet plan. They reach one of these readjustment periods (commonly referred to as stalls, even though most dietary programs would not define something as a stall until you were 6+ weeks with no change in body fat composition), see the scale not move or even go up, and say "F it! I'm not going to give all this up and not lose weight, or gain weight!" They're making weight = fat. You just can't do that.

I think you'll find one of two realities in the near future. One is that more companies will begin to offer it as it transitions out of its current "experimental" status. This should be happening in the near future. Two is that fewer companies will offer it, because on a long term basis, they just don't see the ROI. (see previous thread for reasoning and numbers here). Good luck with your campaigning. :welldoneclap:

BTW, BSU as in Smurf Turf?

Hopping into your thread for a sec. My wait from submitting the paperwork to having my surgery was about 4 months. It is time you can spend well. There's lots of mental and physical prep to be done. E.g. start trying to eat bandster style, focus on lean Proteins, get the chewing and swallowing thing down. Retraining your behaviors now will make it SOOO much easier to do the right thing post-op. I wish I'd been a little more diligent about the behavioral changes pre-op. Good luck!

Yep, sounds like you got stuck and and enduring the residual irritation and swelling. Irritation would be the discomfort, and swelling would be feeling the Water go through. Be sure to take it easy for the next day or, in your case, two or three. Go back to basics if need be - living on Protein shakes and warm Soups for a few days won't kill you. Then you can do an accelerated progression back to normal foods. If you continue to irritate, you can swell shut (kind of) and that will put you in a bad spot, so take it easy. *ETA - none of us are doctors ( I think) and can only share our own advice and experiences. If you're truly concerned about something you have done or are feeling, consult your surgeon.

I have not had someone vacate this way, but I have done it to others. Ask her what's up. If she answers, you'll have that much more information. If she doesn't, you can't do much other than move on. If something has happened and you continue to pursue it, you may only push her away that much faster. If you already have asked and she hasn't replied, and you're sure she's getting the message, then let her know you're there is she needs you (if you want to), and move on from there.

Discuss the reflux/heartburn with your surgeon. If you're able to eat in moderation an unfill may be unnecessary. Your fills do not sound too aggressive to me. I've been at before, it was just too much for me. You can't compare your level of fill to someone else's. There are people who get restriction at 4ccs in a 10cc band, and there are people who get restriction at 10ccs in a 10cc band. That doesn't mean anything is wrong with either situation, just that the two people are different. IMO is you can still eat moderate meals, 3cc in a 4cc band is fine, and two fills in nearly a year is not on my radar for "aggressive" approaches. :welldoneclap:

I beileve my surgeon charges $150 to self-pays. That's without fluoro. With fluoro runs around $800. My insurance (supposedly, we'll say) retains through the life of the band, so I pay $20 copay per fill.

Complications from surgery and the band are very low. There are several medical publications that can give you numbers on lap-band complication rates. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=PubMed is one example. Query "lapband complication rates" or similar terms.

I really couldn't even begin to guess what you will or won't be able to eat, but I can tell you what I can or can't eat. My responses are in blue. First of all is a Mexi Melt at Taco bell - I don't know what this is. If it's a hard/taco type thing, I can eat them. If it's a soft/tortilla type thing, I personally can do them but I know several people who cannot. Second is Meatloaf - I opted to quit eating red meat. I have a really hard time chewing red meat to the point of feeling safe swallowing it. I've found that to me, ground beef especially never seems to really chew up. it gets to a certain point where it just won't go to goo. I can't think of any bandsters I personally know who eat ground beef without requiring some sort of constant sauce to go with it and make it go down. What else....Egg salad. - I eat egg salad (prefer tofu egg salad) and ate it frequently as part of my mushies stage. Potato salad. - I eat potato salad on occasion. I do watch carbs and fat, so I'm careful about it. I have to chew very well. CHinese food, - I have eaten both homemade Chinese and restaurant Chinese with no problems. I've even gotten brave and tried the rice. I've never had a problem. I eat chicken based dishes and try to avoid fried foods. Another thing is fettuccine alfredo - I can eat Pasta, but it just doesn't do much for mye anymore. I figure, if I'm only eating this handful of food each day, I was nutritious stuff, not starchy fat. But I so still eat it on rare occasion and I have no problems, but I know a lot of bandsters who cannot get pasta down. macaroni and cheese.... - Same as above. Right now it probably seems impossible to not eat these foods, but a LOT of bandsters find that, once banded, their tastes change. Whether it's a physiological change, or psychological - who knows. But -- how do I explain this. Once you have to chew your food so much, certain flavors and textures just aren't worth it. That's part of why I abandoned red meat. It just took so damn long to chew it up, it wasn't worth it. Same with most carbs. You have to be so careful eating them, it just isn't worth the risk. And maybe by virtue of that, they become less appealing to us. Long story short, to date there are no foods I *can't* eat. There are many foods I *choose* not to eat. And there are a small handful of foods that hurt, but I could eat them if I wanted to... but there's no way it's worth it.